The traditional techniques of providing support and immobilization in orthopedic conditions revolves around three types of devices: casts, which have application primarily in broken limbs; splints, which are used to immobilize and stabilize the limbs and the torso; and pressure bandages, which help control swelling and give a degree of support. Creative individuals have come up with a variety of departures from these standard themes in order to achieve better patient treatment. Inflatable pouches made from elastic materials exist, adapted to be filed with either liquid or gas, and incorporating means for securing these pouches to the injured part of a human body and tightening them around it. Splints of this kind effect the immobilization and compression of a limb or other part of a human body. One of the alternative devices is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,676.
This device utilizes two sets of multi-layer deformable materials, such as fiberglass shims located in pouches in first and second members having re-sealable bladders of sheaths that provide structural support on each side of the limb.
The main drawback of the device, which limits its application considerably, relates to its fixed and inflexible shape that does not take into consideration the rounded form of the limbs, joints and the torso, for instance.
A different device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,286, which is an adjustable pressure cast for orthopedic injuries. It is composed of three sets of air chambers and is only designed for treating orthopedic leg injuries such as fractures. As in the previous patent, this device suffers from an inconvenient structure, which may only support the calf, the ankle and the foot of a patient without conforming to the shape of these structures.
There is a need for a method and a concept for a light and convenient splint which adjusts to the shape of the limb, joints or any other body part in question and may also provides steady support to the trunk (i.e. spine, ribs, neck etc.), while at the same time allowing free blood circulation, ventilation and enables medical inspection of the injured area.